In this July 5, 2015, file photo, a man uses the dating app Tinder in New Delhi. (AP Photo/Tsering Topgyal, File)

(Newser)
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If you think online dating is the realm of the olds, think again: A new Pew survey finds that the use of online dating, including mobile dating apps, among people aged 18 to 24 has increased nearly 300% since 2013, CNET reports. That demographic is the most likely to use mobile dating apps, with 22% of them reporting use of the apps. "This is a really meaningful sociological phenomenon," the author of the Pew report tells NPR, noting that the proliferation of dating apps has drawn more young people into the world of online dating. Rather than "drawn-out emails and detailed profile pages," apps like Tinder employ a "light, game-ified way of engaging with other people," he says. More from the survey:

15% of US adults have used online dating websites or mobile dating apps

The number of 55- to 64-year-olds using online dating has doubled since 2013

41% of Americans know someone who uses online dating, and 29% know someone for whom online dating has led to meeting a spouse or long-term partner

But 16% of people still say that "people who use online dating sites are desperate"